10 Genius Suspense Tricks That Made Movies Great

9. Barely Showing The Shark At All Enhanced Audience Unease - Jaws

IT Pennywise
Universal

Steven Spielberg's Jaws is one of the most important films of all time - a spectacularly successful suspense picture which effectively set the template for the Hollywood blockbuster ever since.

And naturally, much of the audience appeal of the movie was in seeing a terrifyingly large shark picking off hapless humans before finally being destroyed by the heroes, right?

Except, Spielberg's original plan to extensively feature the shark in the movie, by way of elaborate mechanical shark props, was scuppered when the props began to routinely malfunction due to inclement weather and the general rigours of shooting at sea.

As a result, the now-legendary filmmaker had to get creative, ultimately opting to show only scarce glimpses of the shark, deferring instead to implied movement underwater and, of course, the elegantly simple, spine-tingling movement of its fin.

But this forced economy is largely accepted to have enhanced the film's suspense, resulting in many critics ultimately comparing it favourably to the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

Spielberg himself said it best - "The shark not working was a godsend. It made me become more like Alfred Hitchcock than like Ray Harryhausen."

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.